Production has started!!!
about 8 years ago – Tue, Dec 13, 2016 at 02:54:38 PM

As the title states, production has started! Our custom color bamboo arrived and looks even better than we had hoped. We also have completed insulation testing and our bottles will officially keep your beverages cold for 12 hours or hot for 8 hours! Here are some images of the sample bottles that have come off the line.

We are expecting to complete production by the end of December and receive the shipment by the end of January. Assuming all goes according to plan we will start fulfilling orders in early February. Please note that international orders will take a bit longer to process and ship.  

IMPORTANT:

If you have moved since the close of our Kickstarter campaign (June, 2015), please send your new address to [email protected]. Since many backers have not been receiving these updates, I am going to send a separate email to all backers requesting your updated shipping address. Please send in the following format:

Name:

Address Line 1:

Address Line 2: 

City: 

State/Region: 

Postal/Zip Code: 

Country: 

Phone: 

FULLFILLMENT PARTY: 

Lastly, if you live in the New York area, we will be having a fulfillment party in early February when product arrives. We will be supplying pizza and beverages and all we ask is that you help pack a few boxes (of the 1,100). You will also get to pick up your bottle(s) and meet the Welly team! More info to come in January.

As always, please send any questions to [email protected]. 

Best, 

Ben 

P.S. Here are some other images of our bottle/filter packaging as well as the inserts that will go with each bottle/filter:

Molds Are Complete!
about 8 years ago – Sat, Nov 12, 2016 at 01:17:03 PM

Hey Backers!

I have a very exciting update for you! Our molds are complete and we have begun creating production quality samples – see pics below:

We are going to inspect these samples over the next week and adjust our molds to make sure every piece fits perfectly to prevent breakage or leaks. Once we have adjusted the molds we are moving straight into production! 

Separately, for those of you who purchased customized/engraved bottles, our manufacturers are telling us that we will only be able to engrave Vector format images or names. This includes logos but DOES NOT INCLUDE images of people or landscapes. Please send your Vector format logos/names or any questions to [email protected] and include your full name and Kickstarter order number. 

We are also currently working on our packaging and our new website, which we plan to launch by the end of November. Here’s a sneak peak of our packaging and website which are both in progress! 

I will update you again when production officially begins. At the moment we are expecting to receive product here in Brooklyn in mid to late January and will begin fulfillment right away. 

Please stay tuned for our next update once production starts and send any questions to [email protected]. 

Best, 

Ben 

Visit to Manufacturers
over 8 years ago – Wed, Sep 21, 2016 at 09:06:21 PM

Hi Backers!

I am writing you from Hangzhou, China where I am visiting the Platform88 team along with our manufacturing facilities.

Being here definitely makes a huge difference as it helps strengthen our relationship with our team in China and to speed up our time to production. They appreciate the visit and have told me that they have made us a priority for development/production. We were able to review and solve some small design issues yesterday and are now just waiting for tooling to be complete. Below is our updated schedule:

All Tooling Complete: October 27 (meeting with factories tomorrow to try to speed this up)

First Article Samples: November 3

FDA Compliance Testing: November 3 - 7

Production: November 7 – December 7

Shipment to New York: December 8 – 17

Fulfillment Commences: December 18

I am pushing as hard as possible to bump up these timelines to make sure we ship out before Christmas. However, based on the history of delays I cannot make any guarantees. 

As we wait for tooling, we are working to get all of our other ducks in a row including packaging design, a photography shoot, the re-launch of our website as well as many logistical items like patent work, customs certificates, FDA compliance, insulation testing, etc.

This has been one incredible journey and the finish line is in sight!  Stay tuned for our next update and please send any questions to [email protected].

Best,

Ben

Progress!!!
almost 9 years ago – Sun, Apr 03, 2016 at 03:53:35 PM

Hey Backers!

I am so glad to report some major progress. Please read all the way to the bottom as we have a filter surprise for you at the end!

First, we were able to solve the bamboo cracking problem by testing out multiple bottle thicknesses. We learned that at 106 grams (bottle and bamboo weight) the bamboo stopped cracking and we had a perfect flexibility for squeezing water through the filter. 

Here are some of the bottles that were tested: 

Additionally, we were able to successfully add a safety lock, which allows you to prevent the mouthpiece from opening and spilling water in your bag, purse, etc. We also added a stem to the cap to make sure the flipper would not fall on the users cheek when turned upside down for drinking. Here is a video of Kevin, one of our team members, playing with the cap and demonstrating the safety lock.

Other Cap Images:

We also removed the feet and added a silicone pad to the frame so the bottle would be more stable and well balanced on flat surfaces.

Lastly, we changed the connection between the cap and filter so that the user simply has to insert the filter into the cap bottom when changing out filters. Here is an image of the bottom of the cap and an image of our prototype filter (will be all white) inserted into the cap:

Next Steps 

We were conducting the bamboo cracking tests on our old bottle mold so we could solve the issues mentioned, before creating a new mold with our upgraded design. Now that we have ruled out all major issues, we are starting the production of the new mold. This mold will be the one used for mass production and is therefore more expensive and will take a bit longer (30 days to complete and re-test). 

Once the new mold is complete, we will create final bottle samples, which we can connect with our finished prototype cap and frame. 

When this final prototype is complete and approved, we will move straight into production tooling for the cap and frame. We may even be able to start this step a bit early to save time as this tooling takes the longest at about 40-50 days. To start early, I am having our team send me the cap and frame to review now. We will make a judgment call based on look, feel and functionality as to whether or not that tooling can start while we wait for the bottle mold to be ready. 

Prototype/Production Timeline

As for a timeline, please see our schedule below which indicates production to be complete in July, with fulfillment to start in early August.

After tooling is complete, we will have a small pre-production run to work out any kinks that often arise. At that point we will take a few pre-production run bottles and send them to an independent lab to make sure the filter and bottle work together as a system to remove all necessary contaminants. At the moment, I am not certain as to how long the testing will take but I am connecting with a few different labs to find out.

In the meantime, we are working to finalize packaging designs, integrate a filter subscription model on our website, finalize patents and international trademarks, navigate international shipping customs, select a method of fulfillment, find the right custom engraving partner and finally ship your bottles! 

There is a ton of work to be done, but we are at a really exciting stage as the major functionality problems that had been delaying us have now been resolved. 

The devil is in the details and we are working our hardest to make sure your Welly Bottle is exactly what you expected when pledging to our campaign. We know things are taking longer than expected but this has been a major learning process for us, which will allow us to avoid many of these issues in the future. 

Upgrades for all!

As a thank you for your incredible patience, I have decided to upgrade all backer's filters from the standard chlorine, taste and odor filter (like a Brita one) to our advanced filters for free! These filters have a better water flow rate and remove the following contaminants:

- Chlorine, tap and odor

- Viruses

- Bacteria

- Cysts

- BPA, PCB's and Volatile Organic Compounds

- Lead

- Ferric Iron

- Polysaccharides

- Ortho-Phosphate

- Penicillin G

- Flumenquine

- Humic Acid

- Bromine 

- Iodine

- Arsenic

These filters will not only allow you to completely purify your tap water at home, but you can also now take your Welly bottle to a running stream and most other outdoor water sources for clean water almost anywhere! 

Our next update will come once the new mold is complete and we have a final prototype so please stay tuned!

Best,

Ben 

Other Kickstarter Campaigns

Here is a campaign that I personally backed and know you guys will love!

The 4-Season Give’r Glovers - The Best Damn Gloves Ever

The world’s most comfortable, versatile, and durable pair of waterproof, all-leather, insulated gloves. Made for the Give'r in us all.

Check it out here - http://bit.ly/22SBlAr

Manufacturing Changes and Timeline
about 9 years ago – Wed, Dec 30, 2015 at 04:47:09 PM

Hey WELLY Backers!

We have many updates that I am excited to share with you all!

About a month ago I was approached by a manufacturing facility out of China that produces a TON of other water bottles for retailers like REI and brands like Hydroflask. They also currently work with other Kickstarter-funded companies like Stojo (formerly Smashcup) and Nada bottle. To put it simply, they have a ton of knowledge and experience in the water bottle space and have been extremely helpful working out our remaining issues in order to manufacture at a top quality and competitive price. Because of this, I have decided to move all engineering and manufacturing work to our new team in China.

Schedule

We have developed a new, task-specific timeline that we are excited to share with you (see below). To date we have met all deadlines with only a few remaining goals including Mouthpiece Design Changes and Bamboo and Bottle Overmolding which are detailed below.

Mouthpiece Design Changes: This will be a simple task of adjusting the mouthpiece to be as comfortable as possible on your lips while still functioning properly.

Bamboo and Bottle Overmolding: As described in our last update, we are working to mold the bamboo and frame to the bottle to eliminate any chance of water getting in any cracks or the possibility of the bamboo falling off. We are trying to make your bottle as rugged and durable as possible and this task will make a huge difference. In order to test this, I recently had to order a rapid prototyping mold, which is set to be complete by January 8th and tested for 5 days after. Additionally, I recently learned that in order to overmold the bamboo, we will need to cut out a few small holes in the bamboo which will allow the bamboo to be held in place during molding/production. We are working to incorporate these holes without affecting the overall look of the bottle.

Once these remaining tasks are completed we will be off to the races with final designs, prototyping, tooling and production. However, since we are manufacturing out of China, we have to work around the Chinese New Year, which begins February 8th. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Chinese New Year, it lasts 1 month and all facilities completely shut down for the entire month (and often a few weeks early). While this will clearly affect our production schedule, we have set out a goal to complete all designs and prototyping before the Chinese New Year so that when it concludes, we can go straight into tooling and production (around March 8th).

PACKAGING DESIGNS

Thank you so much for all of your packaging design feedback! We incorporated the responses that we received the most and are getting closer and closer to final designs – here is our latest:

THOUGHTS / FINAL NOTES

Since our recent manufacturing change, we have been moving incredibly fast and continue to upgrade the WELLY bottle. I am so excited to ship you your bottles as soon as possible and will have more updates for you soon!

As we approach the New Year I can’t help but look back at what an incredible year it has been. While getting married clearly tops my list, I feel so appreciative to have the support from all of you backers as I continue down this new and exciting road. I look forward to sharing it with you every step of the way and want to thank you again for your support!

Have a happy and mindful New Year!

Ben